5 Smart Study Habits of Highly Successful Students

Forming effective study habits during early educational years is crucial for educational development. Studying helps to benefit your child in the classroom as well as in their everyday lives.

For this reason, it is important to develop consistent studying habits with your child. This guide aims to provide 5 effective techniques to use when initially developing these habits.

1. Create a Schedule for Their Study Habits

A great way to ensure that your child sticks to a regular study plan is by making a weekly schedule. By writing down what they want to get done, they are able to visibly see how far along they are in their studying process. 

Tools such as a calendar or a spreadsheet can help to further organize your child’s week. It is recommended that you schedule one day a week that does not include studying in order to avoid burnout.

2. Set Study Session Goals 

When learning a new subject, it can be very helpful to assign goals to each study session. Goals help direct the session and make sure your child stays on task for the duration of studying.

Setting small academic goals can help them remain motivated while building towards a larger goal. For example, some short term goals may be: 

• Memorizing a certain amount of words per session
• Concentrating on a single subject
• Completing a set number of equations per session

To add, this study habit helps prepare students for high school and college. Setting specific goals for each session will help manage their studying time when assigned a larger workload.

3. Avoid Distractions

Distractions are a major cause of ineffective studying. With the amount of technology available to kids today, it can be hard for them to set it aside and work on schoolwork.

According to a 2017 study, technological distractions can greatly impact how students retain information.  

Whether your child studies at home or school, it is recommended that they turn to traditional methods when studying. This may include writing out their notes, reading textbooks instead of computer screens if possible, and securing their phone or other devices during the duration of the session. 

4. Motivating Themselves

For most students, studying is not seen as a desirable task. For this reason, it is important that they motivate themselves before beginning each session. Writing out why they are motivated to study or reasons why they should, helps motivate them to begin the session.

Some motivational statements may sound like: 

• I want to be prepared for the future
• I want to do my best
• I want to learn as much content as possible 

Writing out this list and keeping it in a place where they can always see it will help constantly remind them of the importance of studying.   

5. Take Notes in Class 

Taking notes in class helps to retain information better than listening or typing them out on a computer. Notes help students remember the massive amounts of information thrown at them every day.  

Finally, notes are a great resource for students when studying later. They can help remind kids of the topics they learned earlier in the week and give them a starting point when developing their session goals.

Staying Studious

Consistently sticking to these few study habits can help your child become more successful in the long-term. Preparing them at a young age helps to ease the transition from early education to further academic ventures. 

To learn more about the Montessori method and how your child can benefit from our schooling, feel free to contact us.